ELA

Zaria Richards

Ms. Klein

9th Grade Literature and Composition

April 21, 2023

The Most Heroic Step of Sundiata’s Journey

        A hero is someone who is fearless, compassionate, and selfless. Sundiata, the king who founded the empire of Mali, ripped a baobab tree out of the ground, fearlessly battled a sorcerer king and selflessly cared for his people. Sundiata demonstrated compassion  when he gave food to the nine witches that tried to kill him out of the kindness of his heart.  Sundiata showed Fearlessness when he defeated the sorcerer king. Lastly Sundiata exhibit selflessness when he proved to his mom, step mother, and the towns people not only could he walk but his strength was stronger than any human. 

        To begin, during Sundiata’s obstacles, he has to leave the city of mema and the safety of his home in exile. The Kingdom of Mema offered Sundiata safety and stability because it was not threatened by the sorcerer king, and Sundiata was next in line to be king By leaving Mema Sundiata demonstrated the heroic quality of fearlessness because he knew he would be entering into one or more battles. If he stayed in Mema, he would not have to fight in a war.Sundiata put the needs of others before his own personal safety when he left Mema to fight.

     Additionally, after Sundiata’s  evil step mother found out he could walk and how strong he is, she sent nine witches to try and kill Sundiata so he couldn’t become king and her son could. In the text it says, “ Our magic cannot hurt a heart full of kindness. You can do nothing against him.” This quote explains  how kind  Sundiata has been to any and everyone even when they're not kind to him. This relates to my definition of heroism because even after all the bad things people called Sundiata and did to him he was strong enough to overcome them and still  be kind everyone. 

While some people may claim that Sundiata’s defeat of the sorcerer king was the most heroic part of his journey, the truth is his origin was the most heroic part of his journey. In the text it states “ When balla returned, Sundiata seized the rod with both of his hands, thrust it into the ground, and raised himself to his knees. Then, with a mighty effort, he pulled himself to his feet. The iron rod fell away, bent with strain, and Sundiata stood alone.” The counterargument is wrong because Sundiata had to overcome a lot of  hate and negativity not only from the townspeople and his step mother but his own mother. Sundiata fits the definition of heroism is he controls what people say to him and about him by not letting any of it hurt him.

 In conclusion a hero is someone who is fearless, compassionate, and kind. Sundiata fits this description because he is compassionate and cares about others, he also puts others before himself. In today’s world we could use a hero like Sundiata to show us no matter how mean people can be, being kind will get you very far in life.